Kobra And The Lotus – ‘Prevail I’ – Album Review

Prevail I sees Canadian female fronted Power Metal band Kobra And The Lotus back with their latest studio release. Three years since their highly acclaimed High Priestess, the band have been pounding the miles touring with the likes of Kamelot, Sonata Artica and Demon Hunter, to name but a few. Now with their attention truly focused again on recording, Kobra And The Lotus unleash another stunning collection of melodic and gripping tracks that will surely captivate and strengthen their audience.

‘Gotham’ kicks off proceedings with its riff-busting backbone, and immediately you know what Kobra And The Lotus are all about. Vocalist Kobra Paige demands your attention with her powerhouse vocal display. Melodic and engaging, the chorus hits in and takes it to another level. If you’re not already hooked by this stage then you need to check your pulse! Beautifully produced by Jacob Hansen (Volbeat, Amaranthe, Epica, etc.) and mastered by Grammy award winning Ted Jensen, Prevail I is huge in sound. You can appreciate every nuance within this energetic and passionate quartet as they rip their way through 10 breathtaking tracks.

Taking no prisoners, they knock out one melodic powerhouse after another, tearing their way across mammoth sounding tracks like ‘You Don’t Know’ and ‘Specimen X’ and power ballad ‘Light Me Up.’ The band is rich in depth, with furious guitar solos by Jasio Kulakowski, who joined the band in 2012. Speaking about Prevail, Kobra Paige tells us about the idea of Prevail as a double album. The idea of making a double album was introduced by Kobra’s father, who suggested they do it because the vast majority of younger generation Metal artists don’t have the drive. Kobra admits she thought he was insane and that it was a surefire way to commit career suicide.

‘A week later, I couldn’t get the idea out of my head, because I didn’t see any reason why we couldn’t push ourselves to do it,’ says Kobra. ‘We could at least try, and in that way make a bold statement that Kobra And The Lotus is still hanging in there.’

When the band signed with Napalm Records, who were 100% supportive of the double album concept, the label opted to split Prevail into two parts. They felt it was too much material all at once, that would go over people’s heads. Twenty-one songs in all (including a cover), Prevail I and II share outstanding and diverse material due to the fact the songs were all written at the same time. Not only that, they wrote and recorded together in the studio with producer Jacob Hansen. According to Kobra, the band went to Denmark almost completely empty-handed and had very little material prepared. She calls it an ‘amazing experience,’ in that all the writing happened in one place, where the band members could bounce ideas off each other and encourage one other. They also benefitted from Hansen’s considerable knowledge and experience.

‘I’d say about 85% of Prevail happened in the studio on the spot,’ says Kobra. ‘Once we saw how much more colour was added to the songs by working that way, we started to feel comfortable with the process. There were some unique things that happened because we were all there together. There was a whole new, whole different vision for this album. I didn’t know how this was going to turn out; a lot of it came from my intuition. Jasio is my writing partner and he’s a creative force. We lock in with one another when we write; it’s amazing. I’m really proud and overjoyed with how the album turned out.’

It is hard to comprehend that an album sounding so polished was produced in such a raw fashion, but it has worked beautifully, and Kobra And The Lotus have released their finest work to date. The album flows seamlessly throughout, with resounding force showcasing their strength in depth.

Kobra And The Lotus latest triumph Prevail I is released on May 12th via Napalm Records.